Tough Embrace
by Jugger Becca
Summary: First story. Be gentle. It's rough being so tough. Rogue's heart is a block of ice, but for reason. Will it melt away with our dashing Remy's careing gaze? Read to find out! Reviews please. Rated for safety. Updates weekdays.
1. Chapter 1

**Inevitable Disclaimer**: I don't own Marvel. I wouldn't be writing this if I did. I'm quite new to writing fan-fiction, and I doubt I'm any good, but this pairing is really in my heart and though the story might have significant plot-holes that conflict with the original X-Men, I ask you to remember that the X-Men universe is** VERY**, very complicated and hard to follow for a beginner like myself. (Makes me wonder why I have the gall to submit this.) ANYWAY! I hope you enjoy.

**Day One**: Just another day

We enter on Anna Marie-Codenamed Rogue-, a mutant and student at Xavier's School for Gifted Youth sitting quietly alone within the classroom flipping absently through a book, her mind completely devoid of educational purpose.

"Ain't you ev'a gonna find someone?"

The loud, and ever punctual bell rang through the school and students started to fill the class rooms. Filling the empty seats that surrounded Rogue. She sighed disdainfully as the bright and cheery Jean Grey filled the seat to her left closely followed by Scott Summers. He was so handsome even from behind the Ruby Quarts sunglasses he had to wear, and she so furiously beautiful with her flowing red mane, her perfectly sculpted body. Rouge was mad with jealousy of the blossoming couple. She had heard rumors of the two finally going "All the way". But those were just rumors, weren't they? She'd never have the nerve to ask.

She clenched her pencil with her gloved hand till it splintered and snapped.

Jean's unrefined telepath ability picked up on hostility coming from Rogue. No wonder. She seemed to be in an especially foul mood today.

"What's up Rogue?" Jean asked, undeterred by Rogue's venomous glare.

"Nothin', mind ya business." Rogue replied in her heavy Mississippian accent.

Jean sighed looking back at Scott, the two had gotten his attention long before Jean had noticed and listened in with curiosity.

Scott shrugged his broad, shapely shoulders glancing from Rogue to Jean silently as the teacher entered the classroom with a large mug of growth-stunting coffee and brown, saggy bags under his eyes.

"Just anotha day," Rogue thought wryly.

Lunch was especially cruel for Rogue. The thought of accidentally touching another student while waiting for food was excruciating. It usually resulted in an empty stomach and large headache.

Sitting down at her usual table without lunch she watched with scornful eyes as the other mutants interacted. Her gaze caught hold of Iceman, he'd shown interest in her a few months back, but she decided to cut ties with him after he kissed Kitty. She quickly left her gaze wander and sighed sitting back in the uncomfortable plastic chair. Hearing the din of the lunchroom wasn't very pleasant. It was too happy, too mindlessly bothered with assignments; rumors that meant someone had betrayed another. Filled with"What to and what not to wears"; clothes made the person anyway, right?

Finally sick of it and their smiling faces she walked out clutching her fists. Jean watched Rogue leave with a frown then Scott tucked his arm around her waist and she giggled.

Rogue puffed at her white bangs angrily trudging to her next class through the courtyard.

"They're all stupid!" She grumbled, confiding loudly into the seemingly empty courtyard as she passed a tree swaying in the light breeze. But much to her surprise she got a thickly Cajun response from beneath the tree she passed.

"Deh isn't all bad, Chere."

Rogue whipped around at the voice and was met with blazing black and red eyes.

She scowled folding her arms determinately, "If ya think that ya must be new here stranguh."

She noted his greatly sculpted chin smirk as he retorted, "You right 'bout dat, Chere."

She shook her head looking back at the double doors of the cafeteria, "Which part, honeh, the part where you're a stranguh, or the part were they all idiots?"

He laughed, his thick shoulders clad in dark leather shook with delight at her sharp humor.

"A little of both, Chere." He answered, but not in detail.

She shook her head, her dark hair bobbed about on her shoulders as he stepped out from under the shady tree and offered his hand.

She recoiled stepping back, " You don't wanna do that, shug."

He paused, his hand froze mid reach, he look like an oddly placed mannequin, "Why be dat, Chere?"

She wasn't at liberty to tell him. Her morals and heart was too strong to open to a stranger. But something about him; was it the way he looked at her, his keen eyes, his muscular frame draped with leather? She could already tell he had his way with women. She could feel her guard breaking. It infuriated her.

"I'm not gonna tell you, Shug. Not till you tell me what you doin' here."

He nodded drawing back his hand. It rested above his pectoral muscle making his stance seem regal. She would have swooned being another girl. But turns out she was still the untouchable Rogue.

"I'm here to…" He paused with a grin. Her fists raised ready for an assault. He noticed she wasn't too sloppy in her stance; who had trained her? "Old Remy's here to teach, Chere."

She scoffed skeptically, "You expect me to believe you, Shug?"

The man nodded with a teasing obeisance, "'Course I do, Chere, don't you trust Remy?"

She laughed at the audacity, "I trust you 'bout- much as a fox in a hen house."

He smiled nonchalantly, "May be for best, Chere."

Something about him made her tense, but something he stirred up deep inside made a chip in the ice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: Still don't own it. But I'm workin' on changing' that. –Evil grin-

**Day Two**: Rumors galore

"He can't be trusted," Logan, a tough talking, and even tougher walking, mutant sat in front of Professor Xavier's desk. The Professor was smiling as Logan listed his uncertainties

The Professor wheeled out from behind his desk to the window and peered out into the grounds. He looked thoughtful and so brilliant.

"It's not our manner to turn fellow mutants away, Logan, you know that personally."

Logan growled under his breath; that was the professor's way of telling him if he doesn't like it, he's a hypocrite.

"Well…If he comes near me I'mma show him how it works 'round here." Logan and the Professor exchanged nods and Logan left without saying a word, but many, many thoughts that the Professor found objectionable, though mildly comical.

---------

"His name is Remy Lebeau?" Jean's voice was inquisitive, and quite amused.

Scott nodded swinging his arm around her graceful neck as they walked, "Yep, and he's going to be teaching some sub-level classes."

Jean's eyes narrow with thought, "I suppose the Professor arranged that…"

Scott nodded looking at her fondly from behind his Ruby shaded glasses, "Yeah, I think we can trust him, I mean the worst I heard about him was he tried to shake Rogue's hand."

Jean looked at Scott surprised, "He already met Rogue?"

The two rounded a corner, Scott took his arm from Jean and placed them on his muscular hips and sighed, "Yeah, Rogue was the first to meet him."

Jean smiled faintly as they continued onto their classes, "She's finally learning to meet new people?"

Scott scoffed, "Hardly, she thought he was an enemy and attacked him."

Jean gasped, "Oh no! Did she really attack him?"

Scott smiled and half shrugged, "That was the rumor I heard."

She slowed her walking pace to a stop and glared at Scott irritably, "You know better than anyone that rumors are just that. Rumors," She shook her head and stomped off to her separate class, finally glad that she was into home-economics and Scott wasn't.

Scott stood at the beginning of the hall speechless.

--------

"Kitty! Wait up!" Iceman, or Bobby to his friends, came trotting up with his bag in one hand to Shadowcat.

She sighed cheerfully and stopped, waiting for him to catch up.

He grinned stepping into pace with her, "Did you hear about that new teacher, Kitty?"

She nodded, she'd heard many things the past few days, "Yep, and that's he's _really hot._"

Laughing and joking about rumors as they went through the hall the two looked like a perfect couple. Friends before dating. But neither of them wanted that. They realized what a big mistake it was and both were so sorry for it.

Then the conversation got a little heavy when Bobby mentioned Rogue.

"Has she said anything about me?" He asked in al seriousness. He sounded depressed and deeply regretful.

Kitty wondered for a moment if she should lie, but decided the truth was painful, but better in the long run. "She won't even look at me…And if she does, it's like I'm getting stabbed with her eyes."

Bobby winced noticeably and nodded, " I know how that feels."

Kitty shrugged and adjusted the strap of her book bag, "If I see her, I'll tell her something alright?"

Bobby nodded thankfully and one-arm hugged Kitty, "Thanks Kat, I'll owe you one."

She smiled nodding with a chuckle, "You'll owe me a few."

The two agreed, exchanged goodbyes, and went to their classes.

-------

It was around noon when Rogue walked back out of the lunchroom. It was the same as the day before, the people were annoyingly chipper, the room was loud and the air obnoxious with rumors and dumb jokes.

"Maybe it_ is _like yestuhday," she thought aloud. What she meant was that that handsome man, which she later found out he was telling the truth about his employment at the school, was actually telling the truth. All the night after all she could think about were his burning red and black eyes, his grin.

She was reminiscing over something she could never really recognize as a crush. She walked passed the tree he had come out from and smiled.

The confrontation was a short one, when he said that he might not be trustworthy she sprung on him; though with a feeling they were in the same boat.

She sat under the tree absently playing with a leaf. She was sure he was in class, or setting up for one, or maybe even talking with another girl. A twang of jealousy hit her suddenly and she thought of Kitty Pryde and Bobby kissing beneath the street lamp after that damn dance.

Rogue had decided it was a better idea not to go and Bobby had been so disappointed that he took Kitty instead. When Rogue watched the two leave she knew she had made a mistake and went a little later only to find the two under a street lamp locked within each other's arms…Kissing.

Rogue's fists clenched around a handful of maple leaves thinking about the terrible scene. Maple leaves that had fallen from the tree above. The tree in which _He_ stood under.

She felt a heat begin in her cheeks. Her grip slowly left the leaves and her hands covered her pale cheeks in astonishment, "I-I'm blushing?!" She could hardly believe it. And it was just the distraction he needed to slip past her unnoticed.

"But it looks good on you, Chere."

Her eyes lifted from the ground and set once again on his blazing eyes. He was grinning arrogantly, he was carrying a bo-staff with him, but Rogue just thought it was a stick.

She couldn't speak, she choked out a word, but it was nonsense.

He laughed and brazenly plopped down next to her placing his staff over his lap. The tip touched her thigh and she squirmed a few inches away. She would have completely left, and she was wondering why she did not, but she stayed.

"You' pretty quiet, Chere, somthin' on yo' mind. You can tell Remy." His overconfidence and arrogance was shocking.

She relaxed a little, enough to tell him what was what, but she still could hardly say anything.

"I'm only quiet because I don't like you, Shug." She was lying, they both knew it. She didn't trust him, and she would rather eat a snake than tell him personal business, but she _did_.

He smirked and tapped her thigh with his staff, "I hear you come from Mississippi, Chere, we practically neighbors."

She looked at him then to the grassy ground below her, "Where'd ya hear that?"

He chuckled and lent back against the tree setting his staff down fully onto his lap to draw out a deck of playing cards. "You gonna get mad at Remy if I tell his Chere the truth?"

She watched as his hands cut the deck over and over again. She spotted the Queen of Hearts before she answered, "Depends on the answer."

He smiled, "Fair enough."

She nodded. An Ace of Spades.

"I asked the Professuh 'bout ya, Chere, and recommended ya for Remy's class." The honest truth.

She looked sick, she felt violated. She stood up quickly and stomped off confused and hurt, "If ya wanted to know 'bout me ya shoulda asked, Swamp Rat."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Many thanks go to X-Storm for catching a mistake. I hadn't placed within the story that the school the children are attending is the actual mansion in which they reside. I should have said something, and I thought I had. But we all make mistakes. (It's imperative to my plot that the students remain at the mansion. So don't bust my chops over it too bad.-wink-)

**Disclaimer:** Marvel still isn't mine. -Cry-

**Day three: ** Enlighten Me

"Do you think we can trust 'im?" Logan still wasn't convinced after talking with the Professor. Most of the X-men weren't either, but the Professor assured them that Remy Labeau's intentions were good.

A large furry hand waved through the air with a curious chuckle. Beneath a fuzzy blue brow were the sharp eyes of a scientist. They watched Logan's aggravation grow, his distrust deepen with each passing hour. The Beast spoke calmly as he always does, "Charles insures Gambit's sincerity. I have the same emotions as you, but I repress them for the good of the school."

Logan sighed exasperatedly; no one was on his side about this? Well, no one was straight forward with it. He was almost at the point of confronting the "supposedly" smooth-talking Cajun to set him right. But he bit back his anger for the sake of the Professor and students. Something he found to be nearly impossible and against his animal instinct.

-------

The Professor wheeled about the long corridors through the lower level of the school. He was alone, but he felt a glare at the nape of his neck. He knew that no one was there, but the simple feeling never left him, even as he surfed through the enhanced seeing powers of Cerebro.

-------

Rogue was striding down the hall; on either side of her were dimly colored lockers. A nasty pale tan they were painted. Mauve. Rogue hated the lockers colors more then any other color in the spectrum. Students filed into their classes for studies. Rogue would gladly join her normal scheduled period, but she was summoned to a meeting in the conference room with other junior X-Men.

The sub levels were heated, though they always seemed cold and barren. Rogue felt as if the corridors were a metaphor for her heart. She'd written a few poems about the similarities, but immediately burned them. She wasn't a very strong poet.

Holding her arms she rounded a corner. She was nearly shivering. She felt very cold. Was it just her imagination? Suddenly, cold arms wrapped around her waist, bringing her close to a cold body. "I'm so sorry Rogue; I never meant to hurt you." She'd felt this before, hadn't she? Then recollection came into place. Bobby held tight to her waist, he seemed to shiver. Rogue was surprised beyond logic and capable thinking. She wanted to melt so he could make her solid again, and they could be one together. Flashes of pictures and impossible scenarios danced within her thought and she spun around in his grip to face the handsome young blonde, planting a hot kiss on his frosty lips.

The reaction was far from what she had hoped for. The chill started to spread to her limbs instead of residing in his. She seemed to hear a scream far off, whose voice was that? The cold spread to her chest. She suddenly could see a tree, a brightly lit tree with gifts beneath it. Then in her lap a present. Beyond the brightly wrapped gifts were three people. A man. A woman. And a little boy. The little boy was crying into his mother's lap, "He's a FREAK!" She could feel the water well within the corner of her eyes and freeze as soon as they hit the air.

The scream didn't fade, in fact, it grew louder, it rang within her ears till she felt the eardrum would burst and she'd be cursed without hearing as well. That voice is so familiar…Kitty? Jean? Ro?

She came back into consciousness, Bobby was in her arms convulsing. The scream was still in the air and finally she recognized it as her own. She dropped Bobby to the floor, he still convulsed, but only in mild twitches. She stepped back; shakily she found the steely wall. Her back met the wall and she slid down to her knees. Her eyes were wide with fright. Other mutants came running reacting to the scream. She watched Bobby's eyes fluttered close. Her hands began producing frost; starting from her gloved palms stretching out to her fingertips. Soon she was literally frozen to the spot. More memories pulsed through her consciousness. Her eyes hazed over white; she drooped against the wall twitching. She could hear voices, raised voices, and she wasn't sure if they were Bobby's memory or actually happening.

"Rogue just sapped Iceman!" She heard from a worried voice.

"Get the Professor!" Another came fluttering through her ear.

Then another voice came, it was thickly Cajun, and she swore she could taste it on her own lips. She could faintly feel a hand rest on her shoulder then draw back quickly.

"Be careful, Chere, no one wants a frozen River Rat."

-------

Rogue was out of the infirmary before Bobby had even regained consciousness.

Waking up with an extremely painful and immobilizing headache Bobby could scarcely see Professor Xavier sitting at his bedside.

"That was quite the ordeal." He had said. Bobby could hardly tell if it was speech. It felt like a million buzz-saws going off in his ears simultaneously.

He choked for saliva, but his throat was bone dry, so speaking was painful also, "I-Is Ro-"

The Professor sensed Bobby's pain and answered to ease it, "Rogue is all right. She's in her room now, resting. She left you that."

He pointed to a picture, and he might as well have been pointing to something out in space, because Bobby couldn't see it nor held any connotation that he could.

The good Professor placed the single snapshot on Bobby's lap. Bobby's curiosity masked the pan for a thankful second and he examined the small picture. It was Rogue's favorite picture of them. They were hugging and laughing, he remembered Kitty insisting on taking it. It was one of the few times he'd seen Rogue free of her normal thoughts.

**_Another _ A/N:** Sorry for the short chapter this time guys! I'm actually posting from school because it has better writing programs than my computer at home. I'll make tomorrow's extra long:)


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